Celebrated Ghanaian playwright and marriage counselor, Uncle Ebo Whyte, has revealed that his first two attempts at commercial theatre ended in failure, costing him both money and time.
Sharing his experience with Irene Adubea Aning on The Career Trail programme, he said his debut production was financed with a loan from his boss at the time.
“The first one, I took a loan from my boss, and it took me two years to pay because the production did not work. I had to recover financially and emotionally before trying again,” he recalled.
Despite the setback, he attempted a second production, this time selling his new car to fund it.
“On the second attempt, I was using a new Skoda Octavia, white. I sold it to finance the production. That car never came back. The second one was also a disaster,” he said.
According to him, even his third production, though not a complete loss, failed to give him the breakthrough he was hoping for.
“It was on the third try that I broke even. I did not make money, but for the first time, I also did not make a loss. But the first two were total disasters. After the third one, I was totally discouraged. It took me another two years to pick myself up,” he explained.
He recounted that the turning point came in 2008 when, after preaching at a church at the Osu Children’s Home, an idea for a play suddenly came to him.
“I had gone to a church that meets at Osu Children’s home to preach. And after the service, when I was driving out, just as I got out of the gate, an idea for a play began to ring in my mind. It was almost as if a tap had been opened. I drove straight to a friend’s office and started writing. That play became Unhappy Wives, Confused Husbands,” he narrated.
Although he had completed the script, financial constraints made it impossible to produce at the time. It was only a week later that a friend and business partner unexpectedly offered him support.
“My friend and partner, Charles, came to the office and said, ‘Mr. Whyte, you haven’t done a play in a long time, why?’ I told him it was money. He went to his drawer, brought his cheque book and wrote me an amount of 5,000 Ghana cedis. ‘Here, go and do a play.’ This was in 2008. He didn’t even know I had a script ready,” he recounted.
With seed money secured, he set his sights on the National Theatre, booking it for 6 September 2008, despite the fact that his previous shows at smaller venues had flopped.
He also chose to attempt something no one else had done before.
“As the official opened the book to write my name, I heard a clear voice: ‘Tell him you will do two shows a day.’ I asked if they charged extra. He said, ‘Because we know it won’t work, we won’t charge you extra.’ I said, ‘Please indicate that I’ll do two shows on 6th September.’”
To his amazement, both shows sold out ahead of time, with hundreds turned away at the gates.
“For the first show, we turned away over 300 people; for the second show, about 800. That was the first time seeing the National Theatre, three levels, packed. Some people stood outside because they couldn’t believe it was full. They waited until the end of the show. It was the first time the venue had ever been filled to capacity for a stage production,” he recalled.
What made the feat even more remarkable was that the cast who delivered the historic performance were all first-timers.
“I decided to start on a clean slate. I wasn’t going for professionals. We had a cast of nine; none was a professional actor, many were going on stage for the very first time. All those nine are still with me after 17 years,” he highlighted.
The runaway success of Unhappy Wives, Confused Husbands established him in the commercial theatre space and set the tone for subsequent productions.
“It opened doors. Subsequent productions worked well. There was a certain acceptance, people kept saying, he knows how to tell stories; his shows are good; they will be a blessing to you,” he noted.
Reflecting on the journey from repeated failure to eventual triumph, Uncle Ebo said the experience taught him that patience is critical.
“When God’s time is ripe, He makes it amazing. Many of us wear ourselves out trying to make things happen when the time is not right. If you have the patience to wait for the right time, when it comes, it’s always amazing.”